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Hero in the Highlands by Suzanne Enoch

Hero in the Highlands, A No Ordinary Hero Novel, is not about just the hero not being ordinary. There was recently a talk with some authors about strong leading ladies in romance novels. At the time of the discussion, I believe this book had not been released, but should have been an example for their talk. Fiona Blackstock is what I call your typical Highland lass- feisty, authoritative and driven to succeed in a man’s world.

We meet our heroine, Fiona, while in the midst of rallying the clansmen to look for a meandering cow. Fiona has the arduous task of [basically] bullying lazy men who would rather be elsewhere to look for the cow which got loose; while the owner of the cow wines and complains that it’s not his fault the cow wanders off, he also doesn’t want to look for it. This short scene nicely sets up Fiona’s position within her clan. She’s not the clan leader, nor was she ever in a position of power, yet that’s where her life has landed as she’s unwilling to see her home ‘foreclosed’ upon by the King.

It’s in the midst of this cow search our hero, Major Gabriel Forrester, Duke of Lattimer, meets Fiona. She has no idea who this person is beside he’s a Redcoat soldier and that in itself is enough to put her off. The reader meets Major Forrester in Chapter 1, in the heat of battle, fighting the French cavalry. While I found this chapter a great set up for what to expect in the hero’s character, I also found myself picturing him as the character Gaston from Beauty and the Beast animation; swagger, preconceived notions and over-confidence included. With this said, I found myself not quite sure if I liked him or not throughout the book, even in the end. As a reader, you’ll have to make up your own mind and you may love his ‘manly-man’ exploits, but for me, he was a bit over the top and found myself drawn into this novel because of Fiona.

Fiona seemed to be a steady character in her convictions, actions and deeds; I didn’t find her character changing or growing, just steady, which I think readers will appreciate in a heroine. Major Forrester’s character saw at first slow changes in attitude with large changes from the half-way mark on, becoming complimentary to Fiona’s character, which was refreshing as many times a writer will tamp-down the female’s attributes while leaving a A-type male in place.

Overall, I liked the book and found it entertaining; I believe the general public will too. I’ve been a fan of Ms. Enoch for a while and look forward to see what she has ‘cooking’ for her next novel.